Pakistan, India mull cricket match for quake victims by AFP

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Event:

India in Pakistan 2005/06

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DateLine: 8th January 2006

 

Pakistan and India are jointly seeking to raise more funds to aid the victims of last year's massive earthquake by playing a Twenty20 cricket match, an official said Sunday.

 

"We have a plan to play a charity match and once the president of BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) Sharad Powar comes to Pakistan we would sit down and discuss the match and its schedule," Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan told reporters.

 

However, it may be tough to fit in the match as the itinerary for India's tour of Pakistan is already tight. The first one-day international scheduled at Peshawar on February 6 comes only three days after the end of the third Test.

 

The other time slot available, a four-day gap between the first and second one-day matches, falls amidst religiously sensitive Ashura, the first month of the Islamic calendar when arranging security would be a big problem.

 

Khan said if no suitable day could be found, the income from the ticket sales of one of the five one-day internationals would be dedicated to the quake victims.

 

Pakistan suffered their worst calamity when a massive earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter Scale on October 8 last year killed around 73,000 people and left millions homeless.

 

Pakistan, who failed to convince England to play a charity Twenty20 match, dedicated the income, generated from the ticket sales of the first one-day match against England played at Lahore last month, for earthquake relief.

 

The touring England team, however, donated 100,000 pounds (around 10 million Pakistan rupees) for quake victims and also visited the quake affected people in an Islamabad hospital during their tour.

 

The Pakistan team also donated 10 percent of their income from each of the three Tests and announced they would build 100 new houses in the devastated areas of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

 

Indian captain Rahul Dravid also offered his condolences when the Indian team arrived earlier this week, saying he followed the tragic events in India and was shocked at the disaster.

 

The October 8 earthquake also killed some 1,300 people in Indian Kashmir and left more than 150,000 homeless there.

(Article: Copyright © 2006 AFP)